Students wishing to attend the UK under a student visa will soon need biometric identity cards. Fingerprinting is expected to begin this month for students seeking to renew their student visas. More than 50,000 students are expected to be affected. The move is meant to clamp down on fake colleges offering people a way to enter the UK even though they have no intention of pursuing their education there.

“This new route for students will ensure we know exactly who is coming here to study and…will stamp out bogus colleges which facilitate the lawbreakers,” a UK border control official commented.